One picture, as they say, is worth a thousand words, and the one that graced the front page of the Feb. 24 Asahi Shimbun is worth more than all the kanji expended on the Democratic Party of Japan's e-mail fiasco.
The photo, taken during a Lower House session on the afternoon of the 23rd, shows the four leaders of the DPJ seated at their bench. To the left are former party presidents Katsuya Okada and Naoto Kan and Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama, all looking sleepy and out of sorts. On the far right sits current party chief Seiji Maehara, staring out of the corner of his eye at these three as if he'd like to punch them out.
Given the loss of political face that the DPJ has suffered in the wake of the scandal, one could hardly blame him. Lawmaker Hi-sayasu Nagata carries the bulk of the blame for the disaster, but it might not have been a disaster if the party had its act together. For what it's worth, the DPJ exists to be the nemesis of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which is why its ideological breadth takes in the whole political spectrum -- as long as you hate the LDP, you're welcome to join. One can hardly expect everyone to agree on policy, but at least they should be united and thorough in their mission to bring down the big boys.